Dr.Shankar Rao - the maverick minister

Hyderabad: Is Textiles Minister P Shankar Rao feeling the heat? He was hailed as a hero by his Congress party when he took on Jagan Mohan Reddy but his recent outbursts against cabinet colleagues has not gone down well with the party bosses.

Shankar made several allegations against the Chief Minister, was responsible for getting an investigation ordered against Jagan, ministers Sabitha Indira Reddy and Mopidevi Venkatramana.

It is learnt that Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy is trying to reshuffle his cabinet after approval from the Congress high command. And Shankar Rao, who claims to be a crusader against corruption is all set to be axed by the CM.

It is believed that the high command and the Chief Minister had almost made up their mind to sack him the moment he called on Governor E. S. L. Narasimhan and submitted a complaint against seven Ministers.

Indications suggest that he could be shown the door whenever a Cabinet re-jig is on cards. However, he appears to have got a temporary reprieve with the Congress leadership deciding against dropping him from the Cabinet immediately fearing the political fallout of such an action.

Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, who earlier sought his party high command's nod to axe the controversial Minister, is said to have deferred the decision.

This follows advice from a section of the party leadership to observe restraint on the ground that any hasty decision might trigger fresh problems for him. They maintained that Dr. Shankar Rao might not hesitate to use the caste or regional card to launch a virtual war against the Chief Minister.

They also warned him that the Minister would try to project himself as a 'martyr' for trying to expose the alleged corrupt activities of his fellow colleagues. But, the Minister is likely to be given a stern warning to mend his ways and refrain himself from bringing disrepute to the government.

On the other hand several relatives of the Minister counselled him to stop his frequent tirade against party leaders and Ministers. Some of them even advised to him to go to Delhi and explain his side of story so that he would be pardoned.

And the hints were given by Shankar Rao himself. He did not want to be addressed as minister by a reporter, recently. He insisted that he must be referred to as 'Doctor' or 'Sir', but not 'Minister'. 'Minister's post is not permanent,' he said at a press conference at the Congress Legislature Party Office.

The minister himself may be gearing up to resign before the Kiran takes any action against him. A TV channel has reported that the minister had allegedly accepted a bribe of Rs 10 lakhs for arranging a seat for a corporator during the municipal elections.

Shankar Rao who had in the past made several allegations of corruption against ministers, has allegedly been caught on camera while taking a bribe.

According to the footage he is heard saying, 'Don't worry about your tickets. Consider your work is done.' Shankar Rao, who had been making life miserable for the Kiran government by shooting letters to the high command may soon regret his actions.